Logical reasoning PrepTest 117 · Section 4 · Question 2

Question prompt

Pacifist: It is immoral Remaining source text redacted.
Why the credited answer is right

Credited answer: B

The notes below walk through why it fits the stem and how to eliminate the rest.

Argument or Facts

Argument

Valid or Flawed

Flawed

Question Type

Principle Questions / Strengthen Questions

Stimulus Summary

Causes harm to another → Immoral
Using force causes harm
Therefore - Threatening to use force is immoral

Answer Anticipation

This Principle (Strengthen) question starts with a principle! However, we’re tasked with justifying the argument of the Pacifist with a principle, so we need to see how this principle features into the reasoning, and what needs to be justified from the rest of the argument.
As with most Principle (Strengthen) questions, we need to justify a judgment in the conclusion of the argument based on the facts presented in the premises.
Here, the judgment in the conclusion is that it’s immoral to threaten the use of force. Why? Well, anything that causes harm is immoral, and using force causes harm. Putting those two premises together (applying that principle to the specific case) allows us to say that the premises support the idea that using force is immoral.
So we can rephrase the conclusion as: Using force is immoral, so threatening to use force is immoral. With it rephrased this way, we can also anticipate the principle:
If something is immoral, it’s also immoral to threaten to do it.

Answer choices

  1. A
    Given the potential harm Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice A is not credited
    Since the Pacifist says that even self-defensive use of force is immoral, there doesn’t need to be a clear distinction between aggressive and defensive use of force.
  2. B
    It is immoral to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice B matches the stem
    This answer justifies the conclusion based on the premises. The Pacifist establishes that the use of force is immoral, so if it’s immoral to threaten something immoral, then it’s immoral to threaten the use of force.
  3. C
    It is immoral to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice C is not credited
    There’s no discussion of the balance of harm/good in threatening the use of force, so this answer is out of scope.
  4. D
    Whether a threat made Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice D is not credited
    The Pacifist says that a threat to use force is immoral “even when” it’s in self-defense, so there’s no carve-out only under specific circumstances.
  5. E
    It is immoral to Remaining source text redacted.
    Why choice E is not credited
    This answer reverses the argument, justifying the premises based on the conclusion. We need an answer that justifies the conclusion based on the premises.

What this tests

Question analytics

Based on historical answer selection rates for this question.

Answer choice distribution

  1. A 6%
  2. B Credited 84%
  3. C 3%
  4. D 0%
  5. E 6%

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Discussion

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    Started by ankita96

  • Question 2 replies

    Started by Shememories

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